an Eye-opening experience
by Ruth Joyce
Summary: Rapunzel, Hiccup, Merida and Jack thought they kept secrets pretty well. Until, that is, they went to London and met Sherlock Holmes and his inseparable companion Dr. John Watson.


**AN: Hello! This is my one-shot story where the Big Four meet Sherlock Holmes (played by the astounding Benedick Cumberbatch) and John Watson (played by the absolutely amazing Martin Freeman)! It's set in modern times, since I thought it would be really cool if they could ride the London Eye. This way they would be stuck with the great detective until they got off. Yes, I know I'm in the middle of Companions United, but I just _had_ to write it! It's how my brain works, ok? I'll be posting the next chapter over there in a few minutes.**

**Disclaimer: Tangled and Brave belong to Walt Disney Studios. Rise of the Guardians and How to Train Your Dragon belong to DreamWorks Animation. Sherlock belongs to BBC. I own nothing except the story. Shout out to my friend Nightstar Phoenix for the inspiration! And now, on with the story! Enjoy!**

**[Edit:] Just some small grammar issues and facts I forgot to add.**

* * *

It was a clear summer day in London. Unusually sunny, the capital was even more crowded than normal; everyone was eager to enjoy the short-lasting sunshine. With low grey clouds lingering on the distant horizon and a nice breeze blowing in from the north, the rain was sure to return ere long.

But this did not faze 18 year old Rapunzel, who was in a particularly good mood this morning as she skipped along, her shoulder length golden hair streaming behind her. She had always longed to travel and see the world with her friends, and now she was here, in London!

"Come on, guys, hurry!" she called, turning to look at her friends, whom she had left behind. "We'll be late!"

"Rapunzel," Merida, her best friend and also 18, said. "The Eye never stops. If we don't get there at the appointed time what's the difference?"

"I don't care when we get there," Jack said, grinning. "I just want to see London from the air."

"And flying in from an airplane didn't count?" Henry, the youngest at age 17, asked jokingly.

"Of course it didn't!" said Jack. The 18 year old scowling disappointedly. "I couldn't see a thing through those clouds!"

"Well it's sunny today," Rapunzel said peaceably. "Let's go!"

Laughing, the four friends raced towards the incredibly long line. Luckily, they were having so much fun it did not seem to move very slowly.

"Hey, did you know the London Eye is the most popular tourist attraction in London?" Henry said, looking at a small pamphlet. "Not counting those you can see for free."

"I bet it's an amazing view!" Jack said, shifting from one foot to the other. He ran his hand fitfully through his brown hair.

"Are you nervous?" Rapunzel asked him.

"No, of course not!" Jack exclaimed. "I'm just restless."

"Calm down," Merida said, struggling to keep her baseball cap over her red curls on such a blustery day. "Look, we're here now, so there's no need."

Rapunzel skipped up the cement ramp onto the raised platform. Attendants were helping people get on and off the ever moving capsules.

"Right this way, please," one said to them with a friendly smile. "This next capsule will be yours…" her smile fell as she noticed two men still riding. "Um, sir? You have to get off."

"Mycroft Holmes," the tall man said, as if that would explain everything. "I already explained at the exit."

"Oh. Um, yes alright. Hop on quickly you four!" she continued.

Merida and Jack went first, Rapunzel closely following. Henry was more hesitant, but the tall man reached out a hand and helped him aboard.

"Thanks," he said, slightly out of breath.

"No problem," the man said, strolling back to his companion on the other side of the ride.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked him, concerned.

"I'm fine. That was just a bit more difficult than I expected."

Merida studied their fellow riders suspiciously. The man who had helped Henry was tall with a rather unruly mop of black curls. His keen, calculating black eyes stared piercingly down his hawk-like nose, examining them as well. His friend, a short man with blonde-gray hair, looked more friendly and open, but at the moment was looking awkwardly down at the floor.

"Did you have to do that?" he asked.

"Do what?" his companion asked innocently.

"Use Mycroft's name to stay on board. We don't have to ride it again."

"A mere whim, dear John. I'm rather enjoying myself today."

John laughed slightly. "That's unusual. Did you decide to take up Mycroft's offer?"

"Mycroft? Bah, who needs him. No, as a matter of fact, I didn't."

"Come on, Merida," Rapunzel said softly, turning her in the other direction.

"Abused as a child?" the tall man said.

Rapunzel stumbled suddenly, caught off guard. "Uh, excuse me?"

"Sherlock," the other man said pleadingly. "Please no."

Sherlock ignored his friend and walked closer to Rapunzel, looking her over. "You have a distrust of strangers in general. You flinch upon unexpected contact. The only logical explanation is that you were abused as a child. Or kidnapped, perhaps?"

"Um…"

"Her life is none of your business!" Merida said, stepping between them.

"I'm sorry," the other man said hurriedly, pulling Sherlock backwards. "I'm afraid we haven't been properly introduced, which is the _proper thing_ to do. I'm John Watson, and this is my…companion Sherlock Holmes. Famous detective."

"Not Mycroft?" Jack asked.

"No, that's my brother," Sherlock said in a bored tone. "He's practically the British government, but being tourists I expect you wouldn't know that."

"No," Henry said. "By the way, this is Jack, Rapunzel, the feisty red-head is Merida, and I'm Henry."

"No you're not."

"Sherlock!" exclaimed John.

"What? Of-of course I am! I know my own name," Henry stuttered.

"Yes, but it's certainly not Henry. Henry means 'ruler of the house,' which is not a role you're comfortable with, seeing that you always hang back and let Jack over there take the lead. In addition, you paused for a millisecond before saying it, so clearly you aren't used to using 'Henry' as an alias. You don't like your real name, most likely because it was embarrassing to you, so you changed it, at least while you traveled abroad for a few months…"

"A few months? How on earth…?" Rapunzel began.

"Oh this is going to be a long half hour," John groaned, sitting down wearily on the bench that ran through the middle of the capsule. "I'm going to apologize in advance."

"That's not the point," Sherlock explained patiently. "You chose something similar to your real name so that you could remember it easily. Something short, uncommon, embarrassing, or at least hard to say. Haig, Hieronymus, Hubert, no that's your brother," he said, looking at Merida.

"What?" Merida exclaimed, sitting down hard next to John.

"Well one of them anyway. What about Havelock? My parents almost named me Havelock but choose Sherlock instead. Not much better. Heathdene, Heammawhiio?"

"Those aren't even real names!" Jack protested.

"Of course they are. Am I getting closer?"

"Just tell him your name and get it over with," John said.

"No," both Henry and Sherlock said firmly.

"I want to figure it out myself. A-E-I-O-U," Sherlock stated, staring straight at his subject. "Ah, very interesting. Hiccup. I knew I'd get it eventually. Once you have the vowels and at least one consonant it's very easy."

Hiccup would have fallen to the ground, all the way to the ground, if Rapunzel and Merida hadn't caught him.

"Alright, that's enough!" Jack said, approaching Sherlock defensively. "I don't know how you know so much about us, but this stops now."

"Hmm. You're an interesting puzzle, aren't you?" Jack glared back at him, but said nothing. "Can you fly?"

"Uh, duh! People can't fly," Jack said.

"But you're not a person, are you, Jack Frost?"

John Watson looked up sharply. "Since when did you start believing in fairy tales, Sherlock?"

"Since he's standing right in front of me," Sherlock said carelessly.

"How on earth did you know?" Jack asked, genuinely interested.

"You dyed your hair brown, but obviously it's white naturally, or unnaturally as the case may be. You're not comfortable in shoes or walking on the ground in general, which means that usually you take another means of transportation. You seem slightly uncomfortable in warm weather, enjoying the wind and cool sky. Finally, you keep feeling around the air like you're missing something. Everyone knows Jack Frost carries around a magical staff that makes snow and ice and let's him fly."

"Incredible," Hiccup breathed, amazed in spite of himself.

"How did you know about Hubert?" Merida asked, her voice deep with emotion.

Sherlock turned and looked at her thoughtfully. "I'm sorry, I only knew that was his name. Your eyes dilated when I said it. I didn't know he died recently."

"This is impossible," Rapunzel said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Nope," John said, gazing out over London.

"When you have eliminated the impossible," Sherlock said, "whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Car accident?"

"Yes," Merida whispered.

"Again I'm terribly sorry. It's no wonder you needed a change of scenery this summer. Do you plan on returning to Scotland again before you leave?"

"Alright, that one's not so obvious," Jack said. "How on earth did you know about Scotland?"

"You've been traveling Europe for the past several weeks, and…"

"Whoa, slow down!" Hiccup said. "How do you know about that?"

Sherlock sighed and turned to Watson. "Must I explain everything in tiny detail?" John nodded. "Very well then. It must be so boring in your tiny little minds," he added before continuing. "You are all plainly Americans, but you seem familiar with European ways. I could see you coming from a good distance off," he said, answering Rapunzel's questioning look. "I also know you had poached egg for breakfast, I can see some on your vest, Hiccup, and being a distinctly European food it takes some time for Americans to get accustomed to. Therefore you've been in Europe for a few weeks already.

"Now for Scotland. Take notes John. Merida obtains a slight accent, indicating that even though she is fully American, her ancestors or even more recent relatives came from Scotland. Given that you've been in traveling for quite sometime now, you have already been to Scotland and or Ireland, but Merida adores her homeland and of course she wants to return.

"Now I know you're going to ask how on earth I picked up on the fact that she loves Scotland. One, who doesn't love Scotland? Two, it's her homeland. Everyone feels a connection with their homeland. It's called "National Pride." Three, almost everything she's wearing has a bit of green. That T-shirt, blue green. Sneakers? Green Nike arrows. Your baseball cap is green, and your earrings are little green lions, the shape of Scotland's royal lion rampant. Most likely, you wish they could be red like the actual lion, but of course it would blend in to much. Fourth, you are wearing earrings in the first place, when plainly you've only recently pierced your ears, I'd say in the last day or so. Fifth and lastly, you keep looking out that window, which as you know is north, and north is where Scotland is."

"Thus they've already been to Scotland and want to go back," John concluded, nodding. "Obviously."

"Obviously," Sherlock agreed. In the distance, a small helicopter took off from a building roof and began making it's way toward them. He glanced down at his watch. "Right on time."

"On time for what?" Rapunzel asked, still dazed at the man's deductions.

"Sherlock?" John asked nervously. "What on earth is going on?"

"I was bored," Sherlock said. "You suggested riding the London Eye, but I wanted something with a little more thrill to it. Hang on," he said to the other passengers as he threw open the Emergency Exit doors.

Rapunzel screamed and backed up against the far wall, the others following her example without hesitation. By this time they were at the very top of the Eye, the highest point in the great observation wheel.

"Sherlock!" John screamed. "I have a life you know!"

"Of course you have a wife," Sherlock yelled over the rushing wind, catching the rope ladder thrown down to him from the chopper. "I was at your wedding! You first, John! I know you want to."

Reluctantly, John began climbing the ladder, clinging on for dear life.

"This is insane, Sherlock! If I die, make sure to tell Mary it was _your_ idea!"

Sherlock laughed. "Glorious!" Looking back at the terrified and horrified group, he called over the wind. "For the record, here are some other things I learned: Hiccup has a private obsession with dragons, Rapunzel is dreadfully homesick when she isn't otherwise occupied, Jack wishes he could do something more useful than make snow, just every once in awhile, and Merida secretly has a huge crush on Jack! But then again, so does just about every girl who looks at you, except Rapunzel. By the way, Punzie, you shouldn't trust your boyfriend too much. Being a thief you never know when he'll turn against you."

Hiccup, Merida, Jack and Rapunzel stared at him in shocked bewilderment. Sherlock ignored them now, looking up at John, still struggling to make it to the copter.

"I say, John, could you hurry it up a bit? I've got a date tonight."

"With Molly?" John asked hopefully.

"No, of course not. With destiny! And hopefully a crook or two. Why would I go out with Molly Hooper?"

"She likes you!" John yelled, climbing into the helicopter.

"Elementary!" Sherlock said, beginning his ascent. "Have a nice ride down, and sorry if I bored you," he said, kicking the Emergency Doors shut, leaving the four friends shocked speechless. The helicopter flew away over London, the great detective gripping the ladder and looking like he was having the time of his life, despite the fact that everyone in the great city was staring.

Slowly, Jack got up and made his way towards the doors and pulled on them again, just to make sure they wouldn't reopen. Behind him, Rapunzel and Hiccup stumbled to the bench and sat down, breathing hard. Merida didn't even try to make it there. Absolutely mortified, she slid to the floor and lay there, one arm draped dramatically over her face.

"Well…uh…" Rapunzel stammered. "That was…"

"Confounding?" Hiccup offered. "Eyeopening?"

"Yeah. A real eyeopener."


End file.
